Almodovar Talk to Her – Chapter 2 Immoralism
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Talk to Her essay
How does ‘Shrinking Lover’ mislead the viewer to consider Benigno as we otherwise would not?
Benigno draws parallels between his relationship with Alicia with the film Shrinking Lover and its relationship between Alfredo and Ampora. Benigno draws a literal comparison by saying Alfredo is “overweight like me”, he thinks they are both in the same situation so when he sees Alfredo sacrifice himself to please his lover, Benigno thinks he should do the same for Alicia.
The film itself misguides the audience into drawing parallels between the characters as a graphic match is used to cut between a shot of Ampora who is enjoying being sexually acted upon without her consent with a shot of Alicia, implying that she would enjoy the experience also. Alfredo sacrifices himself by shrinking down and entering Ampora to be a part of her forever, Benigno takes the idea of rape from this as he impregnates Alicia, making himself a part of her.
The scene where Alfredo jumps around Ampora’s breasts and enters her giant vagina are played for comedy as visually it’s very silly. Almodovar is intentionally distracting the audience away from the seriousness of the situation by using comedy to make it seem fairly harmless when in actuality Alfredo is raping Ampora. Romantic music also starts playing in this scene and the same music continues playing later when Benigno is massaging Alicia, this is meant to lead the viewer into viewing both sexual acts as romantic, This was done to reflect how Benigno sees it, he doesn’t see it as rape but instead as romantic and that is how he rationalises it in his head. Almodovar wanted the audience to be able to see how easy it can be to misunderstand something, even something as serious as rape, so they can sympathise with Benigno later in the film when he is revealed as a rapist.
Ampora benefits from the rape with an orgasm and Alicia benefits from the rape as it ends up saving her life by awaking her from a coma. This is a very controversial thing to do as it can be seen as glorifying rape but Almodovar did this to shy away from making Benigno seem like a villain. The rape isn’t shown on screen but instead Shrinking Lover is used as a metaphor for it because it makes it harder for the audience to actually see it as rape if they don’t literally see it.
All of this works towards Almodovar misleading the audience into viewing Benigno in a more sympathetic light, shying away from the horrific fact that he raped Alicia.
Bad Education presentation
The Hurt Locker ending sequence
Is James a hero or dysfunctional addict? Analyse the ending of ‘The Hurt Locker’ and discuss.
- James has heroic and dysfunctional addict attributes.
- He gets the job done and tries to help everyone.
- He has a weak connection with his family and prioritises war over everything else, he can’t empathise with others.
- James risks his life trying to save the suicide bomber and apologising to him, a heroic act.
- The slow motion bit where James is caught in the explosion calls back to Thompson dying in this same manner in the film’s opening, this creates the illusion that James will die. It would be a heroic sacrifice style death which is a trope for a hero character but James doesn’t die, showing that he doesn’t fit the hero archetype.
- There is a POV shot of James looking at a kite, this positions the audience with him and there is sonic perspective as well as the sound is muffled when he has his helmet on and then becomes clear when he takes it off, this helps put the audience empathise with him by putting them in his shoes.
- Sanborn gives an emotional conversation in the vehicle as he reveals his fears and feelings and his anti-war perspective, he is meant to be the relatable anchor for the audience. James appears unphased by war and is completely emotionless. His attitude seems almost pro-war.
- James is talking about the number of things he loves, “and for me I think it’s only one”. Then a sound bridge with a helicopter propeller sound is used to bridge to the next scene of war. This shows that war is the one thing he loves as well as the fact that war is always on his mind.
- James and his ex-wife have an awkward conversation and don’t seem very compatible, he doesn’t have much to look forward to when he gets home which makes his character more sympathetic. He doesn’t fit in in a domestic environment.
- James smiles as he walks towards the camera in the bomb suit, he loves it. He is addicted to war.
- There is a graphic match showing him wearing boots then wearing the bomb suit in a quick cut, this very quick change in his attire shows how quickly James can go back into his bomb disposal mindset.
- The final shot shows the 365 days left text showing that James is back in action, the shot shows him walking off into the distance, this is like the western genre iconography. This is done because western film protagonists are often not heroes but are more like anti-heroes, willing to do anything to get the job done, this is drawing a parallel between them and James.
James selflessly risks his life to try and save the civilian who has a bomb strapped to him at the risk of his own life which is a very heroic action. James knows that the man will die but he continues to try to save him anyway, this can be seen as heroic but also as James pushing himself to the limit for the thrill of the danger. The use of slow motion to linger on the shots of James’ body falling after the explosion are used to create the illusion that he is dead as it calls back to what happened to Thompson at the beginning of the film. A death like this would be considered a heroic sacrifice so it evokes sadness from the audience and makes him seem more heroic.
There is a POV shot of James looking at a kite, this positions the audience with him after it looks like he has died. There is sonic perspective as well as the sound is muffled when he has his helmet on and then becomes clear when he takes it off, this helps the audience empathise with him by putting them in his shoes. The kite is very peaceful and seems out of place in a warzone as it contrasts against the violence, weapons and explosions, this shows how the Iraq War is a big intrusion on innocent civilians. This pushes an anti-war message as it highlights the war putting great strain on civilian lives.
When James is talking about the number of things he loves he says “and for me I think it’s only one”. Then a sound bridge with a helicopter propeller sound is used to bridge to the next scene of war. This shows that war is the one thing he loves as well as the fact that war is always on his mind. Being a soldier is advertised as being a heroic occupation in advertisements and pro-war propaganda so while his choice may be viewed as heroic the fact that he is doing it out of a chase for the thrill shows him as a dysfunctional addict. James smiling in the closing shots of the film as he wears his bomb suit which shows that he isn’t in the army to fulfil a service to his country but instead because he actually enjoys it, he is addicted to it.
Saving Private Ryan essay question
With reference to ‘Saving Private Ryan’:
‘Narrative is often assumed to be the most important factor in triggering emotional response whereas style is often overlooked.’ How far do you agree with this?’
I have studied the film Saving Private Ryan (Spielberg, 1998) looking at how it elicits an emotional response from its audience.
The film opens with its logos playing in silence and then the first sound heard is a horn and snare drum, a classic military and memorial sound. The first shot is of an American flag, this combined with the sound evokes great patriotism from Americans in the audience. The fact that this is an American made film which centres around American soldiers makes it pretty clear that the target audience is mainly Americans so this patriotism is going to have an effect on most of the intended audience. The colours on the flag are desaturated and it’s backlit by the sun, this shows the flag as being worn but still standing, symbolising America’s patriotic belief that no matter how bad things get the country will always stand strong.
There is a shot of the old man’s feet as he walks and his face isn’t revealed until later in the sequence, this creates an enigma that is used to grip the audience. As the old man walks through the grave more instruments come into the music and the volume increases, the pitch is raised, the music swells. The music is more orchestral and emotional. The use of music and the American flag create a powerful emotional response in the opening sequence of the film. The narrative does play a part as well as the old man being sad over his friends’ graves evokes sympathy but this is in no way more important than the other factors contributing to the emotional response.
In the opening the sound of the sea can be heard during a close up tracking shot of the old man’s face in part of a suspended graphic match as the next scene starts with some establishing shots of the Normandy Beach and then uses a close up tracking shot of Captain Miller. This sets up the illusion that the old man is an older version of the character Captain Miller. This is very effective for the narrative as it sets the audience up to believe that Captain Miller will survive to the end of the film due to the suspended graphic match tricking them into thinking that he and the old man are the same character, also Miller is played by the star Tom Hanks, an actor whose characters have never been known to die. This sets up the big emotional punch at the end of the film when Miller does actually die which shocks the audience as they thought he was guaranteed to survive and it’s revealed that the old man is actually Private Ryan.
The beginning of the beach landing sequence features no music and only diegetic sounds and is also shot with a handheld camera to add realism and authenticity. The sounds of the sea, people being sick and boat machinery can be heard which are quite unpleasant adding to the sense of dread. There are several brief close ups of some of the soldiers, the audience don’t really get any time to remember their faces or learn anything about their characters besides Captain Miller so the identity of the film’s main characters is still a mystery. This sets them all up as potential cannon fodder which adds to the realism and the cynical message that these soldiers aren’t people, they are just weapons for war.
The action is fast paced and almost like a montage which adds to the intensity, the graphic blood and violence is very horrible as well which creates a feeling of shock for the audience. The German machine gunners are shot in silhouette which dehumanises them and makes it clear that this isn’t a personal attack. No focus is given to the Germans throughout the film, in fact there is only one actual German soldier character in the entire film, but the film wanted to remain authentic so it just shows them in silhouette, leaving the audience to conclude on their moral alignment themselves. The action in this sequence is shocking and also evokes sadness due to the sheer amount of people that die in the battle.
Screenplay – The Broken Man v5
Annotated Catalogue (in progress)
Films
Item 1 – (Tim Burton, 1990, Edward Scissorhands, 20th Century Fox)
I chose this as my focus film because it contains a mix of Tim Burton’s unique directing style and several different genres which leads to clear comparisons between this film and other fairy tale and gothic horror films. Edward Scissorhands is one of Tim Burton’s most gothic films due to it taking much inspiration from the story of Frankenstein. This film’s gothic roots are mixed with the fairy tale genre to create a very unique feel and a unique take on the Frankenstein style story.
Clip from Edward Scissorhands – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4gTvnpO1fM
Item 2 – (Tim Burton, 1988, Beetlejuice, Warner Bros)
This film helps show Burton approaching the gothic genre from a different angle – a comic angle. Serious gothic themes like death are addressed but it’s played off very light hearted which gives the film a very unique feel and it is very much a pataphysical film which shows off how Burton himself was very willing to break the conventions of filmmaking.
Clip from Beetlejuice –
Item 3 – (Tim Burton, 2007, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Warner Bros)
I chose this film because its dark tone contrasts well against my other chosen films but it also draws many similarities to the other films, such as Sweeney himself being an alienated artist character just like Edward from Edward Scissorhands. For Burton this is a very different film due to its lack of comic elements and the fact that it is a musical which shows how he keeps trying to innovate with fresh ideas.
Clip from Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street –
Books
Item 4 – (Jennifer L. McMahon, 2014, The Philosophy of Tim Burton, University Press of Kentucky)
This book goes quite in depth about Sweeney Todd and its stylised use of colour like the desaturated colours in London being used to emphasise how grim it is in comparison to the flashbacks. There are also links to its gothic influences
Item 5 – (Ian Nathan, 2016, Tim Burton: The iconic filmmaker and his work, Aurum Press Ltd)
This source is useful because it references Beetlejuice’s use of classic gothic themes and its comedic twist which can then link to it being a film of the pataphysical genre as it turns conventions on their head.
Item 6 – Postmodern Hollywood: What’s New in Film and why it Makes Us Feel So Strange
This book goes into the settings of Edward Scissorhands and its colour choices which links it to fairy tales. There’s also the theme of isolation relating to Edward and the castle he lives in.
Item 7 – Goth: Undead Subculture
This book goes into Edward Scissorhands’ links to the horror genre and how its light tone and fairy tale elements prevent it from being a horror film.
Item 8 – (Alison McMahan, 2006, The Films of Tim Burton: Animating Live Action in Contemporary Hollywood, Continuum, New York)
This source explores how Beetlejuice fits into the pataphysical genre with its subversions of gothic horror conventions. Scissorhands also fits into the pataphyscial genre with its mixing of fairy tale and gothic elements
Item 9 – (J.Weinstock, 2013, The Works of Tim Burton: Margins to Mainstream, Palgrave Macmillan, United States)
This source is useful as it draws thematic comparisons between Edward Scissorhands and Sweeney Todd as well as some visual comparisons between the two. Also the extent at how close Sweeney Todd is to the gothic horror genre is explored in comparison to the other films.
Magazine articles
Item 10 – (2010, The Gothic Imagination of Tim Burton, Australian Centre for the Moving Image)
The theme of identity within Burton’s films is explored here as well as the dark gothic roots behind Sweeney Todd’s character which is useful for my research since identity is a theme found in other gothic films too. There’s also Edward Scissorhands’ dark fairy tale elements and both films having sympathetic main characters to varying extents.
Websites
Item 11 – (allthatjazz, April 2012, Why Edward Scissorhands belongs to the gothic genre…, https://allthaatjazz.wordpress.com/2012/04/04/why-edward-scissorhands-belongs-to-the-gothic-genre-2/, wordpress)
This source is very useful as it explores several of Edward Scissorhands’ gothic elements and its influence from older gothic and fairy tale stories. The theme of isolation, the love story and the setting are all referenced and linked to gothic horror.
Deselected items:
Book: How to analyse the films of Tim Burton
Once I narrowed the focus down to links to the gothic the information I found from this source about Edward Scissorhands’ psychological anxieties just wasn’t particularly relevant anymore.
Book: Curriculum and the Cultural Body
This source explores Edward Scissorhands’ messages about society which came up in other sources in more detail which left this source as a bit redundant.
Website: Origins of the gothic horror genre – https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/the-origins-of-the-gothic
This source had some good context of the gothic horror genre but I just never needed to directly reference any of this in the presentation script.
Finish citing all the sources, film clips, key quotes
Presentation Script (in progress)
For my project I have decided to study Tim Burton’s films that fit into the gothic horror genre. My focus film is ‘Edward Scissorhands’, released in 1990. My supporting films are ‘Beetlejuice’, released in 1988, and ‘Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street’, released in 2007.
In Edward Scissorhands the main characters are archetypes of the gothic horror genre. Edward is the unfinished creation who is isolated from society due to his unusual appearance and unique characteristics. He is a misunderstood, sympathetic character. This follows the same pattern as the classic character of Frankenstein’s creation who is possibly the character most commonly associated with the gothic horror genre. The old abandoned castle where the Edward lives is a classic gothic convention. It is eerie, dark and starting to fall apart but it is also beautiful, similar to how Edward himself is portrayed. It is also used as part of the film’s theme of isolation, Edward feels isolated and he lives in a literal isolated environment.
Another element that is very gothic is the tragic love story between Edward and Kim. At first it’s a one sided feeling from Edward but as the film progresses Kim starts to fall in love with him as she sees how innocent and likeable he is on the inside and stops judging him by his appearance. This is like something straight out of a fairy tale – in fact it is. It bares a striking similarity to the love story from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.
(allthatjazz, April 2012, Why Edward Scissorhands belongs to the horror genre…, https://allthaatjazz.wordpress.com/2012/04/04/why-edward-scissorhands-belongs-to-the-gothic-genre-2/, wordpress)
But then the gothic aspect comes back for the sad ending where the film doesn’t get its fairy tale happily ever after ending and instead the two main characters realise they can’t be together and never see each other again. The mixing of fairy tale and gothic horror genres links to Edward Scissorhands being of the pataphysical genre. This is a genre that is all about turning genre conventions on their head and mixing different genres together. In this film it is mostly a mix of the fairy tale and gothic horror genres which is an unusual combination that makes Scissorhands quite unique.
(Alison McMahan, 2006, The Films of Tim Burton: Animating Live Action in Contemporary Hollywood, Continuum, New York)
Beetlejuice deals with some abstract ideas about the afterlife with some very creative and comical creature effects and takes some classic gothic horror features such as exorcism, possesion and ghost hauntings but then treats them as jokes which helps subvert the audience’s expectations and makes Beetlejuice a pataphysical film.
(Ian Nathan, 2016, Tim Burton: The iconic filmmaker and his work, Aurum Press, London)
In Sweeney Todd a stark contrast is made between Todd’s previous life with Lucy and when he returns to London through the use of the colour palette. The flashbacks showing the Barker family looking at flowers uses a very colourful palette to emphasise how dreamlike and happy everything was. Then the present day scenes use very desaturated colours and London is very dark and industrialised. Also Todd’s hair, black with a little streak of white, seems to be inspired by the Bride of Frankenstein, a classic gothic horror character.
The opening credits of Sweeney Todd shows off the film’s stylised use of colours as it is so desaturated it is almost black and white which is greatly contrasted by the bright red blood. This perfectly sums up the film’s tone, dark with splashes of light.
(Jennifer L. McMahon, 2014, The Philosophy of Tim Burton, University Press of Kentucky, United States)
Edward Scissorhands and Sweeney Todd both share the thematic element of an alienated aritist, and the parallels between Johnny Depp’s pale skinned, wild haired Edward Scissorhands and Depp’s pale skinned, wild haired Sweeney Todd are unmistakeable. Both are artists skilled with cutting hair, both frequently use blades, and both have been left incomplete. Edward being a literal unfinished creation and Todd being deprived of his family.
Sweeney Todd, unlike most of Burton’s films, plays the gothic element straight, without the usual flavour of Burton’s humour or light edge. Todd quickly makes it clear that he is a character consumed by hatred and the film is about murder rather than the usual Burton sense of wonder. This makes the film tonally closer to the roots of the gothic horror genre.
In Edward Scissorhands, Edward’s bondage-like clothing is permanently attached to his body, when Peg gives him clothes they are just put over his old clothes. The fact that Edward can’t be naked shows that he was never born, he was created. He will always be monstrous in the sense that he will never be able to strip himself of the signs of his creation.
(J.Weinstock, 2013, The Works of Tim Burton: Margins to Mainstream, Palgrave Macmillan, United States)
Todd has experienced a trauma that left him divided, losing his status in his family and in society. His razors are the only connection he has left to his old life which is why he handles them with such affection. He doesn’t realise how far he has gone until he discovers he killed his wife, the woman he had been avenging. After this his song is left hanging as he struggles to describe the man he once was since now he has the knowledge of the monstrous man he has become and how he is no longer the same man. This highlights Todd’s issue of identity as he completely loses touch with who he is throughout the film.
Edward Scissorhands also suffers from an identity crisis but with him it’s about not knowing his place in the world. He doesn’t seem to fit in anywhere. This is also in Beetlejuice as the Maitlands don’t feel like they belong in their house anymore once they are ghosts. Lack of identity is a common theme in the gothic horror genre, as seen in stories such as Frankenstein.
(2010, The Gothic Imagination of Tim Burton, Australian Centre for the Moving Image)
Irezumi essay question
Discussing film form, explore to what extent social changes are represented in the opening of Irezumi
Irezumi (1966, Masumura) is a film about a woman who is kidnapped and forced into a life of prostitution where she then decides to get revenge against the men who forced her into this life.
In 1960s Japan older people had mostly stopped attending the cinema so studios began to target a youner audience of teenagers and adults. To appeal to this younger audience the contents of films began to get more shocking and explored more taboo subjects. The first scene of Irezumi shows a woman being forcibly tattooed, the amount of flesh being seen is quite risque and it’s quite a grim hook for the film. Things like this wouldn’t have been shown in Golden Age films in the 50s, it was a new thing for Japanese audiences that was introduced in the New Wave films in the 60s.
Like most films at the time, Irezumi is mostly made up of long duration shots and it’s a book adaptation. The woman, Otsuya, is in control of her relationship in this film. The opening shows her boyfriend, Shinsuke, being subservient as he holds her umbrella and ties up her sash for her. Both of them are rebelling against society’s expectations with the woman being in control and the fact that the characters are rebelling against their parents by wanting to marry whoever they like is a reflection of the film’s intended audience. Young people always like the idea of rebelling against their parents and not following their parent’s footsteps so having the main characters in Irezumi reflect this helps the film appeal to a younger audience.
In this sequence Otsuya is the only woman and she is represented as manipulative, spoiled and just overall not a nice person. She even guilt trips Shinsuke into running away with her. This shows a pretty negative representation of women but the fact that a woman is the main character is quite significant as this was not very common. Men are also represented negatively as Shinsuke is very weak. He is subservient, a coward and has no backbone. This makes the audience feel a bit sorry for him since he is being manipulated and controlled by Otsuya. Some shots show Shinsuke through some bars that are in the foreground, this represents him as a prisoner, sentenced to spending the rest of his life as a prisoner to Otsuya’s lifestyle.
Some shots use very tight framing where two thirds of the screen are just a blank wall with the characters being squashed into just one third. This represents them being constrained by their circumstance and is an example of Masumura’s experimental directing. In Europe experimental directing was huge in the 60s, mainly due to the French New Wave films, so it makes sense that Japan would try to imitate this with their own experimental directors. Another example of the film being a bit experimental is the fact that the film’s first scene takes place about halfway through the story. Starting the film in media res was pretty uncommon in 1960s Japan and is another way of capturing younger audiences with a mysterious opening.
The film features some ominous, creepy music in the opening which helps set the tone and make it clear that this is a psychological horror film. This is also shown by some extreme close ups showing the tattoo needle going pretty rough on Otsuya’s skin, the sound effect being used is pretty unpleasant too. The film is also of the jidaigeki genre.
The opening doesn’t feature many foley sounds and music is only used when the opening credits are running. The music is used there to set the creepy tone but isn’t really needed for the rest of the sequence since it’s very dialogue driven. It’s possible that foley sounds were limited to give the sequence a feeling as if something is a bit off, like something is missing. This would help create an unnerving and unnatural atmosphere in a subtle way which fits the film’s psychological horror genre.
Sussex University Potential Resources
Dissertation – Misfits and melancholy nightmares: The Gothic World of Tim Burton’s cinema (Menga Mark)
Article – Edward Schizohands: The Postmodern Gothic Body (Russel A. Potter)
Film Studies 